Hello,
I have 2 suggestions for Netrunner, and I voiced one of them to a friend offline when I used to play it way back when.
I am not claiming these will fix the game, and it’s definitely untested. I do think my suggestions have value.
The first suggestion is a clause:
- A Safe Win - just like a successful heist, any instant win condition is now expanded to another 1 round, which gives the loser a chance to respond.
- Meat or Net damage needs to be triggered again to kill the runner within the next round, if damage was the culprit. If the runner can survive both kill attempts, gameplay continues as normal.
- If the win condition being triggered is a scoring of 7 points, then the “loser” still has a round to score and make the game a draw, or even a win.
- There is 1 exception to the above - if the final damage is Brain damage, then the above clause doesn’t apply.
As far as the tournament format goes, I think each player should play 2 games each with each side (corp/runner) for a total of 4 games. Any draw should have a rematch. This is the second suggestion.
My reasons:
- Safe Win clause will buffer against luck and jank, without removing the appeal for either.
- Damage in general (no matter which type) still preserves the archetype of damage decks.
- More interaction, once the final point is won in case of agenda scoring. Due to this, both Corporation and Runner have to plan for post-emptive endings. For example, if the Corp is rushing a win, they need to hope the runner doesn’t find the last agenda they need in a server. Conversely, the runner has to watch out for damage, which encourages the damage archetype none the less.
- I feel this is an in-game way of using cards, without using silver bullets or meta-calls, while making sure each archetype (pressure, control, rush, damage, glacier) are encouraged to cover their specific weaknesses.
- I also think my clause encourages gameplay with tactics, around game play, instead of the cards themselves.
While the Safe Clause removes the instant win condition, getting a draw is also now possible. Scoring no longer becomes binary, and is instead a process with remediation lasting 1 round.
If you are interested in the pain points and mindset with which I have thought to come up with this format, please see an old post here.
Thank you for your time and patience,
Sincerely,
OneFabric.